Jenna & Mark, a designer and a pastry chef, are owners of Whimsy & Spice, a Brooklyn-based bakery. Sweet Fine Day is a visual journal of two entrepreneurs juggling parenting, business, and family life in New York City.

The Mixed Race Project

While I can appreciate the debate and differing opinions, reading a few paragraphs on somebody’s blog everyday does not mean you really know them, only what they choose to share.

You have your own lives, let me live mine.

If our non 9-5 lifestyle inspires others to do the same, then cool, but I’m not trying to be anyone’s role model. I hear the word “courage” batted around a lot and I’m flattered, but it really does not feel like courage. I am just living my life the way I want, the way my mother taught me how to do, by example. Periods of struggle, anxiety and self doubt are real life (who doesn’t have this?) and everything comes down to individual choices. While we can teach our children certain values, we won’t know for certain if they will take it to heart or be truly influenced by what they see around them. They will eventually grow to be their own people.

As the wise 3 year old Claudine recently once said to me:
“I don’t want to be you when I grow up”.

Your daughter is adorable and those expressions say it all. I’m glad you choose to share the tidbits that you do. Just the glimpse into your life and the life of your family makes this thing called internet a strange, but wonderful place.

My mom had a steady, regular, reliable job, but she always encouraged me to find my own path, even if it was completely different from hers (which it is!). What we want as parents is to teach our kids to have the confidence and common sense to decide their own futures and make them a reality, whatever that may mean. And I don’t think you’re financial worries or whatever are unique in any way, my parents were incredibly careful with our finances growing up, and they taught me about self-reliance, living within your means, and finding creative ways to get the most out of life!

I just found your blog through a friend’s blogroll (it is also now on my blogroll). I can’t tell you how happy this post makes me. In considering my own precocious offspring with as much detachment as I can muster (not much), I always think I will be happy to see what he’s like when he grows up. If only I can survive the process of getting there. Cheers to Claudine and her mother.

Oh my goodness, so cute!! I missed the controversy on the last thread’s comments until now–when I read your previous post, what struck me is that you guys must be doing pretty darn well to be able to afford NYC school tuition and summer camp for two, along with all the other high expenses that come along with daily NYC life. And your budgeting measures sound perfectly sensible to me–being frugal and self-disciplined sadly seem to be dying skills. Congrats, and keep up the good work!